Posted on 01/14/2012 3:27:06 AM PST by KantianBurke
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Friday he's "very comfortable" with his decision to grant pardons or other clemency to more than 200 people, including convicted killers, in his last days in office, telling Fox News that Mississippi is predominantly Christian and believes in forgiveness.
The pardons have set off outrage among some victims' families and prompted a judge to block the release of some of the pardoned inmates out of concern that proper notification rules were not followed.
Barbour told Fox News that any problem with paperwork was an accident on the part of corrections officials, who needed to send the notices out earlier to get them published in newspapers on time. But he defended the pardons.
"I understand and recognize that these families had love ones who were the victims of terrible crimes ... and I sympathize with the fact that this hurts them, that they lost somebody like that and that they're not going to forget it and they want vengance," Barbour said on Fox News' "Special Report."
"But what the state does and has done ... most people in Mississippi are Christians or profess to be Christians, and we believe in forgiveness and we believe in second chances," he said.
Barbour told the Associated Press in an earlier interview that it's a tradition in Mississippi for governors to free the trusties who worked at the Governor's Mansion. Four inmates freed this past weekend are convicted killers who worked as trusties.
And the former governor said he's not concerned that the freed trusties might harm anyone. "I have absolute confidence, so much confidence, that I'd let my grandchildren play with these five men," the Republican said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Maybe, having worked near the Governor, these five trusties are a bit more trusty than anyone knows.
Jesus taught not to take personal revenge but it is the duty of the state to punish the guilty, in part to protect the innocent, and in part because actions have consequences. Mercy to the wolf is injustice to the sheep.
Dubya sure did:
"It's going to take awhile for this piece of legislation to kick in. It's going to take about two years to get all the reforms in place. But within six months of the law being signed, our seniors will start to see real savings in health care costs because seniors will be eligible for a drug discount card that will save them between 10 to 25 percent off their regular drug costs. And low income seniors will receive up to $600 a year to help them with their drug costs in addition to the card. Their card will serve as a transition to the reforms that are inherent in the Medicare legislation.
When the full drug benefit arrives in 2006, all seniors will be eligible for prescription drug coverage for a monthly premium of about $35. The result is that for most seniors without coverage today, the Medicare drug plan will cut their annual drug bills roughly in half. That's positive news for America's seniors.
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031125-5.html
Barbour’s “pardon” thing.
And Bolton’s endorsement of Romney. Really makes me wonder about both of them...
Weird?
Around here we call them Career Enders.
“What is it about these evangelical governors?”
They think they were elected God. Of course, none of them run on a platform of “Dispensing forgiveness to murderers and other unsavory characters at the end of my term”
What he doesn’t want to say, but is usually the case with these evangelical characters, is that God told him to do this.
Correct as I have pointed out to people before, you can forgive them, and then flip the switch that sends their soul to judgement.
OK, not from all Your followers, just the ones who hear voices in their heads telling them to do stupid things and attribute them to You. Amen
I am perfectly comfortable forgiving convicted murderers who are sitting behind bars for the rest of their natural lives, or those who have a date with the execution chamber. They no longer pose a danger to the public, while holding hate in my heart is unhealthy once the danger has passed. Where I have an issue is with confusing personal forgiveness with a pardon. Once these bloodthirsty killers are out, they are again a danger. Also, if others who are considering the ultimate crime see the punishment as acceptable, releasing them with a clean slate puts people in danger even if the released murderer doesn’t happen to snap again. This was the wrong move by yet another out of touch governor.
I might be totally off base, but Romney is Kerry 2.0 to me.
He will say anything to get elected. And he was before it before he was againstt it.
And then there is that pesky ‘I am progressive’ thingey.
I loath it when people use false piety to justify their stupidity. Not only is it wrong doctrine, it abuses the VICTIM of the crime all over again.
The only one who has a right to forgive a sin is the one who has been sinned AGAINST.
Full Moon?
Why pursue justice at all? Just forgive and let them go.
Yesterday, there were people on a thread defending Barbour’s actions and coming down hard on the rat Attorney General who is making political hay out of this event.
Pardoning murderers is never right. If this had been a rat governor and republican A.G., there would be plenty of people here who would be hyping the A.G. for P.O.T.U.S.
The party needs to be killed and rebuilt from scratch.
The only other thing that makes sense is he's going senile. If he really allowed his grandchildren to play with the murderers alone then he is senile. But I imagine in the governor's mansion, the grandchildren were never alone with these murderers.
forgiveness comes from the VICTIM.... NOT the state!!!
In my practice I've seen crafty sociopathic people use this “forgiveness” card to get their victims to shut up. Works fairly well on some people...obviously.
This should never have been done on a state level..it adds to widespread demoralization and confusion.
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